Married At First Sight star Mikey reveals how much he was paid

Mikey Pembroke, who was infamously matched with Natasha Spencer in the 2020 season, has dropped a bombshell about contestants’ salaries.

Former Married At First Sight star Mikey Pembroke has lifted the lid on the controversial reality show, revealing the shocking amount contestants are paid to appear.

Mikey, 31, was matched with Natasha Spencer for season 7 in 2020, in an explosive pairing which saw the couple clash repeatedly and exit the show by week three.

Speaking to news.com.au’s podcast I’ve Got News For You, Mikey admitted they didn’t even get paid for the experience.

“You don’t get paid at all – this is a thing that needs to change,” he told host Andrew Bucklow.

“They give you an allowance to live off, but they don’t pay you. So you don’t actually have to claim it as tax.”

Mikey added that during his season, the allowance was “about 1000 bucks”.

“But the show makes an incredible amount of money. And say you were on, you know, a TV show that does really well, you have to get paid more and more because it’s doing so well. And that’s the way it should be for MAFS.”

Mikey appeared in the 2020 season.

He was matched with Natasha Spencer.

He went on to explain that it wasn’t fair, considering the contestants were the ones facing the public backlash during the controversial series.

“They’re the ones putting themselves out there, and then the channel makes millions and millions of dollars in advertising,” Mikey said.

“And this is one of my pet hates – the guys and girls on the show are getting nothing, they’re getting an allowance. They’re giving up their jobs, they’re putting themselves out there.”

Mikey said that people “just roll their eyes” when they find out he once appeared on the show, and that future contestants “don’t know what they’re getting themselves into, they get nothing for it”.

The relationship quickly went sour and the pair split. Source: Channel 9

With the new crop of MAFS contestants set to hit our screens tonight, Mikey also spilled on the “uncomfortable” filming conditions they experience on the show.

“(Producers) want natural reactions … what they do, is they will put you in uncomfortable situations,” he explained.

“So we filmed at a warehouse – I didn’t know what time I was getting on camera, I didn’t know who I was seeing, I was kept in a room with like, some treats and water, no airconditioning.

“They put you in situations where you’re already a bit riled up, a bit uncomfortable – you’re not happy. You might be sitting in a waiting room for six hours before you get a call … So you could imagine what kind of mood someone’s in.”

He added that producers would interrupt conversations if they weren’t happy with the amount of drama taking place.

“We were told multiple times, you know, they’d stopped filming, and the producers would come in and say, ‘guys, nothing’s happening here. What are you guys doing?’” Mikey revealed.

“So they do anything for that drama, and the editing is very good.”

The new season of Married At First Sight premieres tonight at 7.30pm on Nine.